Serpentine heaters having features to reduce hot spots at slot ends

Abstract

A heater body including an outer periphery. A plurality of slots extend from the outer periphery and terminate within the heater body. A plurality of core segments are defined between pairs of adjacent slots. A plurality of bend regions are arranged around respective terminal ends of the slots. Each pair of adjacent core segments is connected by a corresponding one of the bend regions. An auxiliary conductive feature is located within each of the bend regions. The plurality of slots electrically disconnect each pair of adjacent core segments from each other to create a serpentine current-carrying path that extends across the heater body through the electrically conductive material of the core segments and the bend regions. Each of the auxiliary conductive features locally reduces an electrical resistance of the heater body in the bend regions in comparison to the electrically conductive material alone.